Leahy to intervene in detention of migrant worker

John Tracy from U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's office in Burlington, right, speaks on Friday, April 22, 2016, with a group protesting Thursday's arrest of human rights activist Victor Diaz by ICE agents. The group read and delivered a letter urging the senator to block Diaz's deportation.(Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS)Buy Photo

Dan Modricker, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman in Boston, said in a statement Friday afternoon that agents arrested Diaz because he is in the United States illegally. Modricker said Diaz was convicted of DUI in Vermont in November, which made him a higher priority for immigration officials.

According to a 2014 memo from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, undocumented persons who commit misdemeanors are the second-highest priority for immigration enforcement, after those who pose a threat to national security.

Modricker said Diaz will be held while the government seeks to deport him.

Balcazar said as he and Diaz arrived at the Green Goddess Cafe in Stowe, two men in civilian clothes stepped out of a sedan and stopped the pair.

"We were very scared and afraid," Balcazar said through a translator. "We did not know what was going on."

Balcazar said the man had badges which indicated they were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said they placed Diaz in handcuffs but offered no explanation for Diaz' detention.

Diaz is a Mexican national who works on an Addison County dairy farm. ​He has been an outspoken proponent for migrant workers’ rights.

Two years ago, he helped lead a publicity campaign to pressure his employer, a Ferrisburgh dairy farmer, to pay farmhands owed back pay. The farmer, Ray Brands, later complied.

Balcazar described Diaz as a leader who has inspired fellow migrant workers to advocate for fair pay, working and living conditions.

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Enrique Balcazar, left, speaks outside U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy's office in Burlington on Friday, April 22, 2016, to a group protesting Thursday's arrest of human rights activist Victor Diaz by ICE agents. The group read and delivered a letter to the senator's office urging Leahy to block Diaz's deportation .(Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS)

About 20 members of immigrant rights advocacy group Migrant Justice marched to Leahy's Main Street office in Burlington Friday morning to deliver a letter asking the senator to probe Diaz' detention. In a cordial conversation in the office's small foyer, Tracy said Leahy's staff would speak with federal immigration officials and Diaz' attorney.

Tracy handed Migrant Justice members a privacy release for Diaz to sign, so federal officials can disclose to Leahy details of the case.

"The senator is clearly concerned about this, and he needs to find out more about the circumstances that led up to this," Tracy said.

Tracy said Leahy, who was in Washington, D.C. on Friday, has long advocated for reforming the nation's guest worker policies. He noted Vermont's dairy industry relies on foreign workers.

When the Legislature in 2013 passed a law permitting undocumented workers to obtain drivers licenses, lawmakers estimated the number of undocumented laborers in Vermont at 1,500. Most come from Mexico or Central America.

The federal government has visa programs for seasonal laborers, but dairy is a year-round industry — forcing laborers to work in the shadows.

Migrant Justice members said they spoke by phone with Diaz on Friday morning, who said he would be transferred to a detention facility in New Hampshire.

Contact Zach Despart at 651-4826 or zdespart@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachDespart.